The field of the invention is electronic components.
Electronic components are used in ever increasing numbers of consumer and commercial electronic products. Examples of some of these consumer and commercial products are televisions, computers, cell phones, pagers, a palm-type organizer, portable radios, car stereos, or remote controls. As the demand for these consumer and commercial electronics increases, there is also a demand for those same products to become smaller and more portable for the consumers and businesses.
As a result of the size decrease in these products, the components that comprise the products must also become smaller. Examples of some of those components that need to be reduced in size or scaled down are printed circuit or wiring boards, resistors, wiring, keyboards, touch pads, and chip packaging.
Conventional materials that are being used in printed wiring boards, such as metals, metal alloys, composite materials and polymers, can produce undesirable effects, including impedance and/or heat in the circuit board or component, because components made with those compounds are designed to carry electrons. As the components are designed and built smaller, impedance and heat can play larger roles in the component.
Thus, there is a continuing need to a) design and produce layered materials that meet customer specifications while minimizing impedance and heat, and b) incorporate optical components that transmit photons and not electrons, such as wave-guides, into and onto those layered materials while working within customer requirements and specifications, and c) incorporate layered materials that comprise optical wave-guide layers into electronic components and finished products.
Printed wiring boards may be produced that comprise a) a substrate layer, and b) a hollow, mirror clad optical wave-guide laminated onto the substrate layer. The printed wiring board further comprises a cover material coupled to the wave-guide, and at least one additional layer coupled to the cover material.
Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components.